Say Something
by justpyromania
Summary: Paige realizes she needs to let Mike know she still cares. Set between 3.08 and the end of series.
1. Chapter 1

_And I, will stumble and fall_

A part of Paige subconsciously realizes she's touching him. Another part is just trying to read from the book to get her mind of the man handcuffed to the bed. Mike was right, that she had wronged him.

He was sick, she knew, but sick did not mean ruthless. So she reads to him. She strokes his shoulder to make sure she still feels the rising and lowering of his chest. He was right, that the current situation is partially her fault, and she intends to stay and help him however she can.

From the corner of her eye, Paige sees his eyelids flicker. Then she feels him pull away.

A faint "Paige" echoes from his mouth shortly thereafter. She looks down, but can't bring herself to hold his gaze.

"Something's wrong".

Paige takes a breath, "Mike, you're okay," she tells him in what she hopes is a soothing voice.

"I can't breathe", he chokes out moments later.

Paige drops the book to the floor, and places her hand tenderly on his chest. The veins bulging in his neck are a sure sign he's struggling- and she thinks of what it must've felt like for him to drown on dry land in that hospital bed. But she needs him to focus on breathing, even if it hurts both of them. She owes him that much.

 _And I, will swallow my pride_

Paige knows she's a proud person, it's why she went to meet the second time with Sid to settle her debt. What she didn't plan on was Mike showing up, and offering her his forgiveness. Days later he's the one consoling her after she knows she doesn't deserve the award. She may have rescued her girls, but she also let her prejudice cloud her judgement on him.

Twice Mike Warren had forgiven her sins against him, even after she sold him out to the man Mike most wanted to put behind bars. This wasn't adding up, and Paige knows she owes Mike a favor.

He's helping her clean the carpet on the first floor. The only question he asked was when he first ran in, and saw her with tears in her eyes.

"Paige, are you..?"

"No...I'm not...I'm not hurt" she said faintly. He went over to grab the bleach from the cleaning closet and to round up some rags. He knelt down, started scrubbing, and Paige watches him work for the next ten minutes. When she comes out of her haze, she becomes aware of the armored vest he hadn't bothered to take off. Paige reaches out to help him take it off, and his hand instinctively grabs hers. They say nothing about it. Once his vest is off, she notices the sweat stains on the neck of his shirt.

Mike stammers "I - it's nothing," but offers up a worried smile.

She nods, fully knowing he must have panicked on the drive back to the house. Even if they aren't the way they once were, she knows he still cares about her.

"You know, I never thanked you for reading to me." he whispers after what seems like a never ending silence.

"I only wanted you to get better," Paige replies, "and I'm surprised you remember that..." She wants to say more but doesn't know how to phrase it.

A week later, it dawns on Paige that she needs to let Mike know that he's not going crazy, when everyone else thinks he's off his rocker. She knows now how she can repay him. So she walks by Mike's open door. She doesn't bother to knock, she just walks up to the project of maps set up.

"What are we looking for?" She states painly.

He scoffs, "We?"

She doesn't pretend to know why he's apprehensive, but she needs to earn back his trust. She needs him to know that someone is on his side.

"You don't need to help me, Paige. Everyone else thinks I've lost it."

She places a hand on his chest, "Mike. You're not crazy. I helped you last time you had suspicions about Briggs, and those suspicions were spot on. I want to help you, please let me."

"Alright." Mike catches Paige's gaze.

Then she realizes her hand is still on his chest. But in that second she pulled away, she felt his heartbeat. She wants to wrap her arms around him, because the beats are so strong, and she can't imagine how she could let that fervent beating come to a halt.


	2. Chapter 2

_And I, am feeling so small_

Paige watches as Mike works tirelessly to connect the dots and match timelines using the board in front of him.

She has to bring him take-out for dinner, to remind him to eat, because she's sure he hasn't even looked away from the maps in eight hours. He thanks her with a mouth full of egg roll. This is the first time Paige has genuinely laughed in months. He looks like a chipmunk who just gathered all the nuts for winter in one go.

"What's so funny?" he blinks at her, puzzled.

She barely manages to get out a "nothing" before hiding her face and continuing to laugh.

Paige is on the verge of falling asleep when Mike thinks he has a breakthrough, but it turns out the details don't match up, so he becomes frustrated that he can't figure out the lines of yarn in front of him that have since turned into an art piece. He hits a fist against the boards, which is enough to pull Paige out of her light slumber.

"Mike, wha-what's going on?"

"I just can't figure him out, Paige!" He blurts out a little too loudly.

"Hey, it's okay," Paige pulls herself up, slides herself behind him, and starts rubbing his shoulder, "We're gonna figure this out." Mike finally turns around to face her. "There he is! I thought I was going to lose you to all those push pins and yarn."

Mike continues to stare at her, while starting to tilt his head to one side, murmurs, "I'm trying to learn you too."

"Well, my plan has been found out, then." She quips.

"I'm sorry for - " but Paige interrupts him by pressing her lips against his.

Two minutes pass before she slowly pulls away. Eyes remain shut as they listen to the sound of the other one breathing.

 _I'm still learning to love, just starting to crawl_

Mike leads Paige to his bed in silence. Both never letting their eyes off each other. He sets her on the edge of the bed, and she clutches at his blue t-shirt to pull him on top of her. "Are you sure you want this?" she asks him before helping remove the shirt.

"I've wanted this since you left the house weeks ago wearing that white gown. You know how I feel about you and white dresses..." He says, gliding his lips along her neck, letting warm breath follow the creases back to her mouth.

Her hands run across his chest, briefly pausing over his newest scars. He holds in his breath as she blindly traces the healed bullet wound.

Paige pants out his name, as his lips taunt her, coasting back down her neck to her chest. "Mike" she whispers again, shortly before she has to bite down on her bottom lip. The spot where she is most ticklish is her stomach, and Mike just passed her naval.

Her breathes into her, "Yes, Paige?"

She doesn't want to dampen to mood, but she needs to know, "What did I do to deserve you, Mike?"

"I admire strong women," he brings himself back face to face with her and snickers, "A woman that knows my weakness for egg rolls is also going to be at the top of my list".

Paige playfully slaps his cheek. In return, Mike pulls her poncho over head. She wraps her powerful legs around his waist to draw him close. He knows this signal and the reaction is to reach down to unbutton his jeans.

An hour later, Mike is asleep next to her, a peaceful smirk crossing his lips. Paige smiles, and curls up next to him.


	3. Chapter 3

_I'll be the one if you want me to_

Paige and Mike are still in the same position that they fell asleep in four hours earlier.

He is shaken awake by a nightmare. It's the first time Mike has dreamed of dying since flat-lining. He gingerly wipes the sweat away from his forehead while trying to not exaggerate his body movements because Paige is still sound asleep and she seems to be in the middle of a peaceful dream.

Paige feels protected by Mike, but she also has an overwhelming sense of her need to protect him, mostly from himself. She has a gut feeling something is wrong when his consistent breathing pattern shifts to sharp inhales. She digs her head deeper into his chest cavity, and she lets her breath out quietly. Mike smiles and cradles her in his arms.

She falls back asleep, but Mike is wide awake and staring at a crack in the ceiling. He had sometimes wondered in the days since he got out of the hospital if Paige was ever going to look him in the eye again. He had been okay with knowing that they could only try to forget the past. Now, he can't imagine not having her in any capacity. She keeps him on his toes and finds him when he loses his way.

Mike hasn't moved an inch by the time the sunlight shines in Paige's eyes, forcing her to finally get up. She stretches her toned arms around Mike's neck, and kisses him on the cheek. At first, he doesn't say anything, but Paige continues to fixate on his cerulean eyes, and he softly speaks, "In my dream, I died. I died because I was foolish and self-centered and didn't ask anyone in the house for help. I injected myself with that needle, Paige. The one I throw out that day at Gusti's? Then I couldn't stop continuing to shoot up, and I needed more, but one syringe from a street dealer was tainted with rat poison. And you...you found me on the bathroom tile, pale and lifeless."

She waits in case he has anything more to say before pulling him closer, "Mike, you've always been the most honest and caring person in my life. I'm beyond proud of everything you've accomplished." He closes his eyes and nods. Paige doesn't release him from her grasp for another hour, until she's sure he's not going to hurt himself.

Paige knows that Mike is stronger than his nightmare, but nightmares can really throw a person off balance. He stands up from the bed, and starts to make his way downstairs. She briefly thinks about what would have happened to him if he hadn't gotten clean - she shakes her head to clear away the thought, then she follows his man down the stairs.

"Hey you!" She yells before chucking her flip flop at Mike's head.

"What was that for?" He exclaims.

"Catch," she taunts before taking off.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!" Mike has to chase her around the kitchen and living room before he catches her, and picks up her squirming figure. He's vaguely out of breath because Paige is putting up a hell of a fake fight, and it unnerves her slightly that he still hasn't fully recovered from his lungs collapsing.

Paige gives a quick brow raise and licks her lips, "seems like someone needs to hit the gym more often".

"Hah, maybe" He coughs out before massaging his sternum. Paige walks up to him and puts her hand over his, looking for a way to ease Mike's breathing. She put one of his arms around his shoulders and together they creep back up the stairs to the second floor.

They get back to work on the figuring out the route Briggs must've used to dump off the sarin. Johnny comes in two hours later and corrects some facts. Next thing Paige knows she's getting thrown the car keys and they're out the door and merging onto 101 to Santa Barbara.

 **A/N Well that only took two chapters to get past 3.11. Stay tuned for more! Thanks for the lovely reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N The fact that these two would have worked it out is breaking my heart into bits. So here, have sappy Paige apologizing to Mike.**

 _Two weeks later._

When she moves her hand to touch him and he's not there, Paige panics. She flicks her eyelids open and hyperventilates for the first couple of seconds after waking. She tries to calm herself until she hears the shower water hitting the tiled walls, then she lets out a relieved sigh. Paige pushes the sheets off herself and climbs out of his bed, tip-toeing her way to the bathroom.

She watches him until he notices that someone is standing in the doorway. She turns around bashfully, then looks back at him. He stares at her, water rushing over his toned arms, and waves her in. Paige doesn't even undress, she just moves the sliding glass open and steps inside.

Paige whispers "Mike.." and cradles herself in between his arms.

He pulls her tightly against his body, and kisses the top of her head.

"It's alright, Paige, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Mike I'm so sorry." Paige whimpers into his collarbone, as she presses herself closer into his torso. He won't feel the tears running down her cheeks since they mix with the droplets falling from the shower head.

He reaches down to turn off the water, he hears her softly crying.

He looks at her and says ,"let's get you dried off, huh?" and pulls her oversized sleeping shirt over her head.

"I shouldn't have come in here."

"Paige, everything is fine." He states, and wraps a towel around her shoulders.

"No it's not! I killed you Mike...I killed you."

He says nothing. It's been six months since the doctors shocked his heart out of arrest, and he flashed his eyes open to multiple sharp pains in his left side, and his lungs feeling like fire. It's been one and a half months since he's been clean from the substance abuse problem he started when he could not physically deal with the pain stemming from his wounds. Mike had originally forgiven Paige, and then as he progressed into addiction, he resented her. He had forgiven her twice, the second being when she watched him like hawk after he woke up in an ice bath, and she needed to know that he would not die. Again.

 _You're the one that I love_

After a minute of listening to Paige's sobs, he speaks. "I forgive you. I know I said it before, but that was because I couldn't let do something stupid. Now, I forgive you because of how you've helped me in the last month. I know you care about me, Paige, and I forgive you for what you did."

"It's not you who should be apologizing. I'm the reason you couldn't stop taking the pills. I'm the reason you were in so much pain. I pressured you too hard over Sylmar, and you only wanted to fix the situation. You just wanted everything to get better, between us and for those girls. I pushed you too far, then I betrayed you. How could I do that?"

Paige sits down on the floor and balls up. Mike sits down next to her and places his head in the crevice between her neck and shoulder. They stay in this position for the next few minutes. Then Paige speaks again. "I hope one day we can go back to the start."

"We can," Mike begins, "we're not the same people we were then." He kisses her forehead, and Paige kisses his still-warm-from-the-shower cheek.


End file.
